Explosive 2nd Half Paces #MBB Rout of Kennesaw State, 85-60

Monday, December 30

Jacksonville, Fla.

7 pm

University of North Florida

7-7, 1-0ASUN

Kennesaw State

3-11, 0-1ASUN

Kennesaw State

North Florida

12/30/2013 10:36:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: North Florida Athletics

Final Boxscore (pdf)
Game Book

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The North Florida basketball team scored 51 second half points en route to an 85-60 victory over Kennesaw State in Monday's Atlantic Sun Conference opener at UNF Arena.

The Ospreys collected their fifth consecutive home victory and improved to 7-7 on the season with the win, which also marked the squad's fourth consecutive ASun opening win. UNF extended its win streak to nine games over the Owls (3-11).

The 25-point decision marked North Florida's largest margin of victory in Atlantic Sun play, eclipsing the previous record of 22 points versus Jacksonville and KSU.

Seniors Travis Wallace and Charles McRoy led the way for the Ospreys finishing with 26 and 14 points, respectively. For Wallace, it marked his fourth game with 26 or more points against the Owls. McRoy added a team-best seven rebounds in the game as well.

"I give a lot of credit to our seniors for getting us going early in the game," said UNF head coach Matthew Driscoll. "They did a great job of just doing what they do. Travis was a beast down low and Charles not only had a strong offensive effort but played tremendous defensively."

In addition, Jalen Nesbitt scored 10 points while Beau Beech, Chris Davenport and Dallas Moore each chipped in nine.

Nate Rucker led the way for Kennesaw State finishing with 18 points. Orlando Coleman had 13 points and a game high eight rebounds.

"It is always great to open conference play with a win," said Driscoll. "I thought our guys did a good job of getting better over the holiday break and we saw some good things tonight. I was proud of the team effort with lots of guys making plays for us. The bench gave us a real lift."

The Ospreys never trailed in the contest after scoring the first four points on their way to an early 9-2 advantage. KSU closed the deficit to two points and stayed within six points for most of the opening 10 minutes. However, a 15-5 run by UNF during the final 10 minutes of the period allowed the Ospreys to carry a 34-23 lead into the halftime break.

UNF maintained a double-digit advantage throughout the second half and eventually pushed the lead over 20 with 1:55 left following a layup by Davenport. Nesbitt drilled a three-pointer from the corner with just under a minute giving the Ospreys' the record-setting victory.

For the game, UNF shot 80 percent (24-30) from the free throw line while also shooting 54.7 percent from the field. The Ospreys struggled from the three-point line making just 3 of 14 attempts (21 percent) but connected on 26 of 39 shots inside the arc (67 percent).

North Florida continues its conference opening home stand Wednesday by welcoming defending league champion Mercer to UNF Arena at 7 p.m.